Break Free (Kakashi Prequel)
by goddamndamndamn
Summary: Kakashi is given a solo mission in the ANBU with reconnaissance and an assassination-one that's definitely set to be interesting. But even he hadn't been expecting things to turn out like they had, with surprises both good and bad! (This is a prequel to the story I'll be doing after, and so it'll probably be a little short!)
1. Chapter 1

Kakashi was fifteen.

He'd been in the ANBU for a few years now, doing whatever missions the Hokage gave to him and going on with his life as normal as he could do. His past still haunted him. Though the nightmares of his teammates deaths weren't as numerous, they nonetheless showed up now and again. Being in the ANBU helped to ease the pain in some ways, Kakashi would admit it. The missions were harder; darker. He had to throw himself fully into them in order to focus and concentrate on what he was doing, and in a way, although the missions meant he had to kill more people and there was more violence involved…it had helped Kakashi to cope with the anger and guilt that had been building up inside of him after everything that had happened.

Today had been no different. Kakashi had already completed one mission earlier in the day, and then he'd been assigned another one straight after; only this time he wouldn't be going ahead with it right away. He hadn't even been told what the mission was really about; the third Hokage had said he would be briefed later on in the early evening when he would come back. That fact in itself put Kakashi on alert, knowing this mission was unusual. There weren't many missions he did completely on his own, but evidently this would be one of them—something about what he would be doing was special, though quite what it was Kakashi couldn't tell. Still, he wasn't nervous about it; if the Hokage had assigned him the mission, then clearly he felt it was within his capabilities, and as such Kakashi headed back to his house, doing some errands and training a little for the rest of his day, casually considering what this mission might be about in the meantime.

But eventually the sun began to set, signalling it was time for him to leave, and grabbing anything he might need—making sure he would be prepared for the mission—Kakashi set off for the Hokage's building once more. A few minutes later and he arrived, nodding in greeting towards the Hokage as he went and stood in front of him, saying nothing more. The Hokage would reveal the information he needed to know soon enough, so there was no point pushing it any further—something that was proven a second later as the Hokage finally began to speak up, beginning softly,

"I know it seems unusual for you to be doing a mission on your own, Kakashi, but this mission involves reconnaissance—and an assassination. It would be unwise to send in too many ninja; and I know you can handle this. Outside of the village walls there is an estate a few minutes out, owned by a wealthy man named Daraku Aimi."

"He's the one I need to assassinate?" Kakashi cut in, only to narrow his eyes as the Hokage shook his head and continued,

"Actually, no. He hasn't been seen in a very long time. Although I am suspicious of Daraku, I have nothing to show he has done anything. But anyone who has gone past the area has reported seeing and hearing unusual things. People have been disappearing, and the bodies of several Konoha ninja have been found in the area. It's definitely the work of an assassin; and a talented one at that. With the way things are going, they're becoming very dangerous to Konoha. So I want you to take a look; see what's going on in there—making sure you're not spotted. At least I want you to figure out the identity of the assassin; if it's possible, for you to take them out—but considering their skill it might be better for you to get back up. You can decide further into the mission. Do you understand?"

Nodding in agreement with his words, the Hokage sent him off, and Kakashi instantly set off. Only stopping to check he had all the supplies he would need, Kakashi then swiftly headed towards the gates of the village while thinking about the mission ahead of him. He wasn't sure how long this mission would take. True, he could always quickly head back to the village if he needed anything, but in terms of completing everything, it remained a bit of a question mark in his mind. Kakashi didn't know how big the estate was, or the layout of the area at all, which gave this assassin a bit of an advantage over him. He would need time to collect information on the place and just what was going on, and considering the assassin was a person that was able to move from place to place—and no doubt at a pretty fast pace—tracking them down might be a little difficult.

But still; he had to stop anyone else from being killed.

Why was it even happening? It seemed like this Daraku guy was connected somehow, even if no one saw him. But what possible reason could he have for kidnapping people and killing Konoha ninjas? It didn't even appear as if he was trying to be particularly subtle about it. And with an estate this close to a ninja village, rather than some sort of hidden base underground, it wouldn't take long before somebody came calling. But maybe that was the point of the assassin. If Daraku felt he could rely on him—felt that he was strong enough to keep any ninjas at bay—then he felt he didn't need to hide. When Orochimaru had been performing his experiments, he had kept them more hidden than this guy, true, but when the Hokage had confronted him he hadn't exactly acted remorseful; he hadn't even run.

Wait—was Daraku doing experiments too?

It would explain why people were disappearing. He would need people for the experiments. But Orochimaru had done them to try and become immortal and learn all the jutsu in the world. Without knowing what Daraku was like, Kakashi couldn't make any assumptions. He could simply be kidnapping them and selling them off as slaves in some form or other—with an estate, he seemed like the kind of guy to care about money. But shaking his head, Kakashi continued on and focused on what was ahead of him. He'd know soon enough, after all. That was what this mission was about—finding out what was going on here. Maybe if he was lucky Kakashi might even find Daraku hiding out in a hole somewhere. From the sounds of things it was about time he came out of the shadows.

And as to this assassin…would he need back up? The fact that the Hokage had even suggested it to begin with made Kakashi hesitant. Generally the Hokage understood the both Kakashi's abilities and the requirements of the missions he sent him on, knowing whether or not he would need help, or just how much help he _would_ need. Though for something like this…normally Kakashi would have said he could have handled it, but the Hokage had appeared hesitant. He'd said the assassin was becoming dangerous to Konoha…but just _how_ dangerous? Who the hell was this person? They must have been hired from outside, but there was an endless supply of missing nins from the other ninja villages; there was no telling who it might be.

Though as the estate's walls appeared up ahead, Kakashi got the feeling he would find out soon enough. Immediately slowing his pace, Kakashi hid in the branches of a tree close to the wall, and began circling round. He had stayed off the path while heading towards the estate, not wanting to be seen, and now he made his way towards the gates—not to enter through them, but to see what kind of security they had. He was a little surprised, however, to see nothing there as he arrived, the doors wide open, scanning the area from his hiding spot. But gathering they wanted people to simply walk in—they needed people, after all—Kakashi circled back round, narrowing his eyes as he noticed that rather than guards at the gates, there were a couple of guards around the perimeter, and more further into the forest, ready to catch those who passed by.

Definitely knowing something strange was up now, Kakashi picked an empty part of the wall and began to make his way inside, checking carefully every step of the way for guards or traps. And as he finally landed on the ground inside and slipped into the shadows, Kakashi was beginning to understand:

This mission was certainly going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

Considering Kakashi didn't know the layout of the estate, he thought it best to simply make his way around for the moment. That way he could make a mental map of the place, and after a while he would be able to tell which places were important; where he would need to go and just generally get a better understanding of how things were set out. He wouldn't be getting any help after all, and somehow he doubted there would be signs telling him where most of the action would be going down, so he would need time to do some research. Not to mention, if he needed to hide from anyone who might see him, such as the guards, Kakashi needed to know where those hiding places were. So as such he didn't plan which way he was going now he was inside; simply staying by the wall as he followed the boundaries of the estate.

By the time he'd made it all the way around to the gates again, the sun had set and nighttime had arrived. Kakashi made a mental note of any buildings he thought looked interesting—or more likely suspicious—so he knew which ones to go back to once he had an idea of just what this place was like. But for now he concentrated on just a quick look at the buildings, noting the amount of guards was a lot heavier on the inside than it was on the out. It was easier to get in, but obviously the same didn't go for when you wanted to leave.

With a better comprehension of the security of the estate, Kakashi decided to call it a day for now, finding a place he could settle down to get some sleep without anyone finding him in the meantime. He wasn't a heavy sleeper at any rate; it wouldn't take much noise to wake him and he wanted to be up early to get another look round anyway. Not to mention Kakashi could protect himself, of course…though even he felt a little unsure about this place. He didn't know exactly what it was about the estate, but something just didn't feel…right. But even as he finally drifted into an uneasy sleep, he couldn't help but wonder just what he would find here…or just how hard it was going to be to find it.

Then the morning arrived.

Getting up quickly, Kakashi had a hurried breakfast with the rations he had with him and immediately set off once more, heading noiselessly into the trees. If there was one thing he could be glad for, it was that; Kakashi silently thanking the amount of vegetation within the estate that kept him hidden. It would certainly come in handy if he was going to be keeping out of sight, whether during the day or at night. He began to explore further than he had yesterday, noting any places where there seemed to be a lot of activity. Of course, there was debate as to what classified as 'activity' when Kakashi didn't even know what was going on here—sure, people had been going missing, and with all the guards and the general atmosphere Kakashi was pretty certain it had something to do with the estate. But what exactly was happening to those people?

If Kakashi had to choose, saving anyone who was still alive would be his main priority. Yes, the Hokage had asked him to kill the assassin that was causing trouble for the village, but he would rather the assassin got away if it meant the people were safe and this place was destroyed. But shaking that thought off, Kakashi concentrated on what was in front of him. For all he knew, he could do both: he just had to see where it took him. So he quickly got to work over the next few days, further analysing the layout of the estate and the buildings within, and then moving on to surveying specific buildings that appeared of interest.

It was a little more difficult than Kakashi had been expecting, however, as the security was very tight when it came down to certain places—obviously important to Daraku. The longer he stayed, the longer he knew that something big was going on here, even if he hadn't figured it out yet. So Kakashi collected more information on the amount of guards and where they patrolled, listening in to any conversations they had when he could. Only it wasn't particularly fruitful; it surprised Kakashi with how little they knew, even with how they never left the estate and had been there so long. But it made sense—at least from another perspective. Daraku didn't want anyone to know what was going on here, and it made it easier to keep things secret if even the guards were clueless to his doings.

It just made things harder for Kakashi, however.

Over time, Kakashi managed to get into a few of the buildings on the outskirts of the estate, where there were less guards and the security was generally more lax. Some weren't suspicious at all; simply carrying food supplies and the like—the kind of thing needed to support the amount of people staying in the estate. Others were slightly more incredulous, as although they were empty, there were signs they hadn't always been that way, and they hadn't been filled with the usual sorts of things someone would expect. But it wasn't enough. Kakashi could come up with theories, but until he actually saw something, he couldn't prove anything. At the moment it was all just speculation, and he couldn't complete the mission with that.

However, the more little things Kakashi discovered, the more determined he became to complete the mission in the first place. At times it was frustrating, yes, but that feeling that appeared the moment he arrived had only grown as he stayed. Though Kakashi might not truly know what it was, he knew there was something to find here—and it was his mission. He had to stop what Daraku was doing; he had to stop that assassin from killing any more people. Most of the time it was ninjas who put their lives on the line on a daily basis—but they chose that life and they had the abilities to fight for it. Daraku was going after innocent civilians; people who didn't deserve any of this. People who couldn't do anything about this. So Kakashi would have to act for them.

The only problem was he didn't know how long this was going to take. He was being slow enough already—he hadn't exactly made much progress, and he'd been there three days now. There were times he considered sending a message back to the village; asking for backup like the Hokage had said he could. But Kakashi knew he couldn't. It was hard enough to get into the buildings when he was the only one here; if he had more people with him, there was more chance of being caught. Why would they be able to find a way in quicker than Kakashi would? Overall it wouldn't make a difference; if anything, it might just make it worse in the long run. No; if Kakashi needed back up at all, it would be when facing the assassin—that was when he might need support.

For now, however, he was on his own.

But what to do? He was making decisions, yes, but decisions that weren't helping him generally with the mission. The estate remained a place of mystery, and Kakashi spent the rest of the day doing reconnaissance, not even noticing as the sun set, eating on the go as he continued to try and find a way in to some of the other buildings. Even that in itself was a decision; there were so many, and Kakashi couldn't tell from the outside if one was being used for important things or just supplies like the others—all of them were deathly quiet. He could spend days gaining entry, only to find it was empty; and he couldn't waste time like that with every single building! How many more people would die in that time?

Then eventually, as it got later into the night, Kakashi decided to call it quits for the moment and restart in the morning, sighing inwardly and starting to head back to his 'hideout' to get some sleep. Whether that would bring any results, he didn't know—but hey, he had to try, at least. Even if it came to nothing.

So when he saw something moving through the trees…

He was a little more relieved than he would have liked.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't a guard—Kakashi was sure of that.

They all wore the same uniform in a forest green colour; but whoever this was, was wearing all black. Immediately that put Kakashi on alert—the only other people here apart from the guards were either the missing people, or someone higher up. And Kakashi didn't doubt it was the second option. He didn't believe the missing people would be wearing something like that if they were being kept here as prisoners, and not to mention they were walking around freely. There was no hesitation or wariness as they continued through the trees; as if they were looking out for guards or someone watching. So it had to be someone higher up—what reason would they have to watch their backs in their estate?

This was all good news for Kakashi, having finally found a lead that could take him somewhere and allow him to make progress on the mission. So he didn't pause as he headed after the shadow as it went onwards, pulling forward to get closer but making sure he stayed far enough back to avoid catching their attention. This went on for a few minutes; Kakashi had no idea where they were heading, but he was willing to find out. Even if he didn't manage to get inside, he would know where he had to look from now on, and it was with a grim excitement that Kakashi followed, only coming to a halt a little while later as the trees began to thin.

He stopped on the edge of the wood, narrowing his eyes as he wondered what to do next. His target kept on walking, heading towards the nearest building; a large, ominous looking place that Kakashi had noted but never managed to get inside. They headed around the corner, disappearing from his view, and gritting his teeth, Kakashi paused to debate where to go from here. Looking around, he couldn't see any guards nearby, and for all he knew this guy might leave an opening for him to get inside the building. But he didn't want to risk too much and jeopardise the mission; there was no telling what could happen if things went wrong. However—Kakashi had to make a decision, and make it now. What was he going to do?

Though it didn't take him long to choose. It had taken this long to get this chance, however small it may turn out to be or whatever risks it may hold—Kakashi couldn't wait around to get another one. Who knows how long that'd be? So without any further hesitation, Kakashi moved out of the trees and over to the building, sidling up to the corner and peering around, keeping a careful eye out for any guards that might be around. But he was surprised to find that no one was around. His target was gone; obviously inside the building by this point, and no guards to be seen. Whether they had been called away for some reason or something else was going on in the estate, he didn't know; but the entrance to the building was wide open for him to go inside. A part of Kakashi was hesitant at this idea, but it was a good chance to find out more, and there was no risk when they had no idea he was here.

Checking every few moments to make sure that no one turned up, Kakashi continued forward from his hiding place, though remaining in shadow as much as he could, and upon reaching the door, slipped inside as quickly as possible. Immediately he discovered another place to hide, waiting there while he scanned his surroundings and found out more about where he was. The place was dark and gloomy; with an even worse atmosphere than everywhere else in the estate. For a moment Kakashi considered the possibility of guards patrolling, before he remembered that none of them ever came inside the buildings—only those who had the higher position to do so. But with that thought Kakashi remembered who he'd been following to begin with, causing him to pause as he realised that although he'd come inside, there was nobody else here. They could have gone off in another direction, true, but then Kakashi would have seen them as they left—so why was the place empty?

Or at least he'd thought so.

A moment later and Kakashi's thoughts slipped from the location of the guy he'd been following as his eyes started to adjust to the lack of light inside the building. Now he could see a little clearer, he could make out several tables throughout the room, but from the length and size of them all…they looked a lot like gurneys. Along with the fact that there was clearly something on all of them, though at this distance Kakashi couldn't quite make out what it was, the more suspicious he became. There were counters against the far wall with cupboards above and below them, but he could clearly see the cupboards were open and empty now. They'd taken all the useful things they needed from the building and moved on, increasing the sinister feeling that had been growing within him. But seeing all this laid out in front of him, Kakashi forgot about anything else, slowly inching his way out from the shadows and towards the middle of the room to find out more.

"No…"

Kakashi's voice came out softer than a whisper, his eyes widening at what he saw in front of him. Subconsciously he'd known it was coming, with the shape of the tables and what it looked like was on top of them—but it was still a shock to fully see it now he was up close. There were bodies on every one; obviously this was where the missing people were disappearing, and Kakashi's assumptions were finally proven correct. He looked each one over, noting the marks and scars on their bodies, and taking into account the way everything was set up, Kakashi was beginning to get the feeling that his first theory—that Daraku was following along the same lines as Orochimaru—was right. He might not have the same goals as Orochimaru did, in terms of wanting to become immortal and learn all jutsu possible, but he was doing some sort of experiments on these people; and Kakashi needed to find out what.

He didn't stay much longer, not wanting to wait and see if anyone would turn up to get rid of the bodies or something like it. Scanning the room one last time, Kakashi headed out and back to his basecamp for now to get something to eat, thinking all the while he did so. He had work to do, after all, and he needed to figure out where he'd go from here. That building hadn't been where the main action was going down—it had been the aftermath. The ones that hadn't worked and they needed to destroy. Seeing what he had had answered several questions that Kakashi had been wondering about since the mission began; but it also created others that he wanted an explanation for, even though he doubted it would be anything he wanted to hear. He needed to find out more about these 'experiments' that Daraku was doing. Things were different to what Orochimaru had been doing—none of Daraku's guinea pigs were ninjas; they were civilians. But why?

That was just another question on Kakashi's list. He needed to know what was going on _and_ what Daraku was planning on doing next. Now that he had some information, Kakashi would have to do what he could to get more; find those that were still alive and being experimented on and the assassin that was killing anyone who got in the way. He'd made the first step—now he just had to continue in the same way and figure out the rest of this mystery.

Maybe then he'd finally be able to stop all this.

Maybe then Kakashi would finally get his answers.


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi continued to collect whatever information he could over the next few days.

But it seemed a lot easier than how it had been at the beginning.

He began to see a lot more of the buildings in the estate from the inside, and therefore learned more about what exactly Daraku was doing in his experiments. From what Kakashi could tell, Daraku was developing jutsus in the people he'd kidnapped, increasing their endurance, stamina; their speed and strength. He was also trying to create new jutsu and combine different nature transformations together to create advanced transformations. Why they had to be civilians and not ninjas, Kakashi still didn't know, however—it would make more sense if he had kidnapped ninja. It was the reason why so many had died already. In a way that was similar to organ transplants, there was always the possibility that the recipient would reject the organ, seeing it as a foreign presence within the body and trying to destroy it; and it was essentially the same with this. Daraku was forcing their bodies to take in chakra of all different transformations; sometimes more than one at the same time. Their bodies just couldn't handle it.

He'd seen the results.

So far he hadn't seen Daraku himself, however. He had to be keeping an eye on things, considering he was in charge of all this, and he would no doubt want to make sure it all went to plan. But he hadn't spotted him at all—though even that was probably to help keep things under the radar and try and avoid blame for everything he'd done. Not to mention Kakashi was pretty sure Daraku was a ninja, but not a high level one. If he ever thought there was a chance of him being caught out and ninjas from Konoha coming to take him down, he wanted to stay out of the way so he wouldn't have to fight, no doubt knowing he wouldn't have much of a chance in battle. Well, at least on his own, anyway; that assassin was something else entirely, and someone who also remained a big question mark in the mission. A shadow, and nothing more. Though it seemed they remained a mystery to everyone at the estate as well as Kakashi, as even though the guards and workers there knew Daraku to some extent…this assassin practically didn't exist, and it did nothing to ease Kakashi's worries.

But he tried to shake it off for now. He kept himself in good shape while he was here—just surviving was an effort in itself, anyway—and he would do whatever was necessary to complete his mission and keep Konoha safe from Daraku and whoever was working for him. He would pinpoint Daraku's location and get rid of him for good later on; and who knows? If Daraku had hired him, the assassin might back off with his death, not wanting to get involved in any trouble with a ninja village, least of all one as strong as Konoha. And if not…well, it was what he had to do, and he wasn't about to back down. But that possible confrontation wouldn't come until later if he kept up his guard, at any rate, and so Kakashi would just concentrate on getting all the information on what was going on and how he could stop it.

Though it was going a little quicker than he had expected. In the amount of time it had taken him just to find out one good piece of information, Kakashi had discovered so much about the estate and Daraku's actions. The security was still tight, yes, that hadn't changed in the slightest, but there were openings and opportunities that arrived and allowed Kakashi to find out things and get out before anyone saw him. He hadn't noticed anything the first time, as he'd been too focused on everything he'd found out in the room and how he was _finally_ making progress with his mission, but now it was happening more often and he had the time to think about it, Kakashi was starting to see patterns in what was going on here.

It just all seemed very…coincidental, and that wasn't always good in the current set of circumstances. Why was it that when at the beginning, he couldn't get in anywhere at risk of being seen by someone and caught, but now suddenly that was no longer happening? Why was it that before he had had to simply make guesses as to which building to go into, going through a process of elimination as to whether they were important or not, and now every time there was an opportunity for him to go inside, it was _always_ somewhere that was important and he could get information? Information that was useful to him, and never the kind he discarded? This couldn't be occurring by accident—and it confused Kakashi. Because although at first he had become watchful and cautious with everything he did, wondering if Daraku was trying to lead him into a trap, the more he thought about it, the less that idea made sense.

Surely if Daraku knew he was there, he would want to get rid of him as quickly as possible—for all he knew, Kakashi could have sent word back to Konoha by now. Allowing him to continue snooping around was only disadvantageous to Daraku, and with how much effort he had made to kill any ninja who had come within 10 feet of the estate, Kakashi doubted he would be so lenient with him. There was absolutely no purpose to letting him live—he was finding out more about the experiments he was carrying out and gradually would learn enough to put a stop to what he was doing. Hell, he was going to kill Daraku in the end. If he had really been trying to lead Kakashi into a trap to kill him, it would have been right at the beginning; when Kakashi barely knew anything and was still figuring out the layout. Not now, when he knew enough to separate the necessary information from the insignificant, and was more aware of the people involved in the experiment.

But there still had to be a reason for why all this was happening. However, the more he considered it, the less Kakashi could think of how it could be a malicious one. The only way this could all work—leaving Kakashi clues and opportunities to find information but never telling anyone he was here or affecting the mission for the worse—was if they actually wanted to help him. The very moment he first acknowledged the idea, Kakashi almost didn't believe it; that in itself didn't seem to make sense. But there was no other way to explain it—and there was still the question of what Kakashi was going to do about it now. The idea he could trust someone who was working for Daraku and living in the estate seemed almost stupid…but they'd helped him so much already, and there was no point to a betrayal—if they knew he was here all that had to do was tell someone and that would be it.  
So…maybe Kakashi could team up with them.

They had to be higher up than just a guard; the guards never went inside the buildings where the experiments were going on and didn't have a clue what was really going on. So the fact that they knew which buildings were important meant they had to be working on a closer level with the experiments. But if that was the case, Kakashi could find out quite a lot if he got closer to them—whoever they were. Just because they were working here didn't mean they automatically agreed with what Daraku was doing. Maybe they'd seen the experiments and realised they didn't want to be a part of it—that they wanted out. Kakashi was more than willing to help them out if that was the case; it had to be hard seeing what was going on day after day and not wanting to do it. The only problem being that Daraku would no doubt dislike the idea of anyone leaving—to the point of never letting it happen, in case they ended up telling someone.

How he was going to find out who his newfound 'friend' was and meet them face to face along with an actual conversation about what would happen about the things going on in the estate, Kakashi didn't know, but as it turned out, he didn't need to do a thing. He soon began to discover more the next day—and it would lead to more than he ever could have anticipated. Not only that, but it would be for the best.

Hell…it might even be more than that.


	5. Chapter 5

It happened in much the same way everything else was happening.

There was nothing leading up to it; no tension that slowly built up until it was all revealed. But like the rest of the information Kakashi had discovered on this mission, it seemed to appear out of nowhere, and felt strangely coincidental—as if it was all occurring on purpose, with someone else pulling the strings. That was how it had been so far; whoever was working for Daraku was clearly leaving Kakashi clues and opportunities that allowed him to get inside buildings and find out information that he needed to know. He might have had no idea who they were or what exactly their motive was, but he couldn't see any way they might be doing this maliciously. True, he wouldn't completely let his guard down and allow himself to become totally vulnerable—after all, he was still in Daraku's estate and there was still that assassin to be wary of. Overall, Daraku held most of the cards and Kakashi couldn't be too careful; but whoever this person was, they had done nothing but help him so far.

The next day and he had just taken a short trip around the estate to see if anything had changed; if anything was going on that looked interesting and might be worth taking a closer look at. He hadn't spotted anything much so far, but he was hoping that he might find a bit more when he headed towards the centre of the estate—or at least something. Not that he was in that much of a hurry; it was only mid-morning, and he had all day to explore and discover, and he often continued even after sunset as it was easier to get around unnoticed in the dark. But for now he headed towards the middle; this was where most of the action went down, and it was often a mixture of the actual experiments and simply buildings where written information was kept as it was where the ninjas working there stayed when they were finished. From previous experience, Kakashi and come across a lot of information in this area—so chances are it would happen again.

Though it wasn't quite what he had been expecting.

Coming through the patch of woodland that cut off the majority of the buildings in the centre from the rest of the estate, Kakashi slowed his pace and kept his guard up. There where never many guards around within the property as no one ever really got that far, but those that did remain were mostly in this area. Because of this, Kakashi needed to be careful—especially as most of the experiments were done here as well, it meant that it was the most populated part. So keeping completely silent, Kakashi continued through the trees and finally spotted the opening ahead; when something else caught his attention along with it. At first he thought it was a guard, and slowed even further to make sure he stayed out of his way, but not bothering to stop and hide just yet—when he noticed something wasn't quite right about them. Something was different.

Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi went on until he reached the last few trees, only now slowing to a halt and hiding in the branches to observe this person. He could see now they weren't a guard; guards wore the uniform of the estate in specific colours, and they definitely weren't wearing either the uniform or the colours, instead being all in black. And as they came closer he could see they weren't male, either. With long blonde hair that had to reach down to her lower back pulled back into a ponytail and deep brown eyes, she wore a sleeveless halter neck shirt, arm covers and skin-tight pants. But it was obvious she was a ninja, as she was wearing a shuriken holster and a katana was on her back. What exactly she did for Daraku, Kakashi couldn't tell—but she was different than everyone else he'd seen; in lots of ways. He couldn't help but edge a little closer as she moved off, unable to stop watching her—she was beautiful, in a placid, almost pure way, and there was something vulnerable about her.

He knew he should be regarding her like the rest of the people working for Daraku, but she didn't act like anyone else he'd seen, and just the way she looked separated her from the others. True, Kakashi wasn't exactly about to go up to her and ask her a few questions, but she had caught his attention and he wanted to keep an eye on her. What she was doing now, he hadn't a clue, but she certainly had to have a higher up position than others he'd seen. They all acted as one, wearing the same things and doing what was needed in their groups. But whoever she was, she appeared to be allowed to act alone, with no one following her or giving her an order to go and do something in the estate. Kakashi began to follow her, gathering he might learn something if he did so, only to find that she didn't appear to be heading anywhere in particular; it was more as if she was wandering casually round, ambling along while she took a break. Though no matter where she went, she never made a sound.

What surprised him even more was when he saw what she did a little later on. She had been walking onwards as usual, not apparently with a destination in mind, when abruptly she vanished into the trees nearby, and halting a few metres away, Kakashi watched as she concealed herself in the woods, much like he was doing. Why, he couldn't quite understand; there was nothing he could see that would cause her to act like that—when suddenly he saw what must have spooked her. A guard was walking with one of the ninjas who helped with the experiments; though that still didn't ease Kakashi's bewilderment. They were on her side, so what reason would she have to hide if she worked in the estate? Unless she wasn't meant to be there either—but then surely she would have hidden herself from the beginning, rather than wandering around in the open in broad daylight. So why hide? She clearly didn't want to be seen; was there something wrong? Did she not want to work there?

If that was the case it could work out in his favour.

Watching as things went on, the guard and other ninja soon disappeared from sight, and a few minutes later she finally stepped out from the trees and continued on, glancing around to make sure no one else was around. With that, she started forward once again and began to head off, and Kakashi automatically started to follow. He was intrigued, to say the least. He might not have any idea who she was, but she didn't fit in here. For whatever reason, she didn't want to be involved—she couldn't do. If she did, she wouldn't have tried to hide from those ninjas. By hiding, people didn't know where she was, and might think that she was out doing something; that she was busy. Therefore she would never get dragged into any errands or jobs for anyone and just make up an excuse at the end of the day.

Did she want to get away from the estate? It certainly seemed that way—several more times as Kakashi went on behind her she hid to get away from any guards or ninjas she saw, and avoided some of the bigger buildings or kept to the shadows with others. The idea that not everyone who was involved with Daraku was okay with what he was doing was comforting, and if he managed to make progress, he might even make an ally out of her. Though he tried to shake off the thought as he finally parted ways from her, checking some other buildings before he left it at that. As he discovered some more information on the experiments, Kakashi tried to tell himself that he didn't know her story. He didn't know anything about her, for that matter. He didn't know he could trust her, and even if she did want to stop everything going on here, she could be being forced to stay here through some method or another. Kakashi couldn't simply assume things would turn out like he wanted them to.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel like his judgement on her was right. There was something about her Kakashi felt he connected with, and just like the rest of this mission, he would take things slow. He wasn't about to rush in headfirst—though a part of him _did_ want to meet her—he could see how things went. But there was no way he could just let her be dragged down with the rest of them if she wanted to get away and stop all the experiments. It wasn't fair—it wasn't _right_. However, he knew she was here now, and he could keep an eye out for her as he went on with the mission. Maybe eventually he would learn who she was—no; he was _going_ to. Kakashi felt he had to find out, as if it was crucial. Somehow or other, he knew she was important in some way.

Little did he know he was about to find out.


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi began to see her more and more often over the next couple of days.

Whoever 'she' was.

It was hard to find out much of anything about her, but whenever he found out the slightest bit of information he simply became more intrigued and interested in who she was and what she was doing here. As he saw more situations where she hid from the guards and other ninjas working there, it became clear she was a high level ninja—she started hiding ages before Kakashi was able to sense anyone. He had been too focused on following her to truly pay attention to it before, but he couldn't help but notice it more now, as well as the fact that she managed to have her own schedule without ever getting in trouble about it. Clearly she had to be good enough to continue doing this and not have to deal with Daraku in the meantime. That was something else that would only add to the advantages if Kakashi could get her on his side eventually.

But it still took him a while to realise just what was going on as time went by. He was still able to get information as he went about the estate, though something felt as if it had changed. He couldn't shake the idea that she was important somehow; that all this was connected, if he could just figure it out. However it was that part that appeared to be the hard one, as even as he began seeing more of the experiments and figuring out more about Daraku's motives and the like, there were some things that still didn't fit. Was he missing something? Maybe that was the problem. In the same way that you needed a sort of 'key' in order to figure out a code, maybe Kakashi needed to discover that one piece of information that would solve everything else. If he just found out this one thing—whatever it might be—then the rest of the mysteries surrounding the estate, the people and the circumstances within would all fall into place.

He sent regular reports back to Konoha so that the Hokage would know what was going on—and that he was just still alive in general, and did all he could to solve this. It was bigger than just the estate; or at least Daraku wanted it to be. Kakashi could tell. The way he was treating the whole thing and from what he had seen…there was no way he was content with being small scale. So Kakashi had to do something about it; which only made the pressure to find out this information even more heightened than before. But it wasn't as if he was about to give up on this. It was his duty, his job, and he'd seen what happened to those civilians. Thinking about it chilled Kakashi even now, especially with the idea Daraku was going to keep doing it if he wasn't stopped. He might not fully understand his motive, but he comprehended it wasn't about taking over somewhere; becoming the leader of a group or land. This was more personal—and it meant that he wasn't going to let anything get in his way.

Then again; neither was Kakashi.

Even so it came to him slowly. The possibility had been there from the beginning, but it had never occurred to him to truly consider it. The mission went on as always; finding out information, going inside buildings when he could and looking around to see what he could find. Not to mention he was keeping an eye on her as he did so, seeing her every now and again and following her sometimes to see where she headed to. He never saw any full conversations she had with anyone else working there or managed to get a look at what she actually did, but the more Kakashi went on with this, the more the two began to merge. Discovering information started to coincide more and more with whenever he saw her. It wasn't as if he exactly suspected her in the same way he did with the others when he saw how she hid from the guards and her duties, so if he followed her and she vanished suddenly only for him to come across something else of interest, she often faded away from his thoughts. He forgot about the peculiarity of what had happened to begin with.

It was brought back into the front of his mind that night, however, as when he went around the estate once again to see if there was anything going on, he spotted something. Instantly hiding himself, Kakashi analysed it—at first he hadn't a clue what it was, but after concealing himself he could see it was a person all in black, though he didn't know who it was. It couldn't be a guard, so it had to be someone higher up, and with that thought Kakashi was immediately reminded of the first time he managed to infiltrate a building in the estate. He'd seen somebody and followed them inside; somebody who'd just been a shadow and whose identity he'd never known. It was exactly like before—seeing someone moving about, dressed in black but not seeing their face, before he made the decision to follow them.

A decision Kakashi wasn't finding it hard to replicate, curious in much the same way he'd been the first time. Though they weren't moving to start with, and so Kakashi made his own way closer to see if he could get a better look and finally find out who this enigma was. He had enough mystery on this mission already; he didn't want to have to deal with any more. So weaving his way through the trees, Kakashi finally got to a position where there was enough light to see what this 'shadow' looked like—an appearance that brought Kakashi to a halt for a second time. Because he had seen them before; well, _her_. It was the same girl he'd been seeing over the past few days around the estate. _She'd_ been the shadow at the start; he just hadn't known what she looked like—or that she was even a woman then—and immediately assumed it was a different person when he saw her later on.

He couldn't bring himself to follow her when she finally did begin to head off, still a little shocked at this new information—and also at the train of thoughts it was bringing along with it. All he could do as he was left alone was to make his way back to 'base camp', forcing himself to stay alert and on guard on the journey so he didn't run in to anyone on the way, but the moment he was safe and hidden, he descended into a trance, thinking everything over. Having seen that and gathered a new perspective, Kakashi knew for certain she was the shadow that had first led him to the building with all the bodies in it. But at the same time, the more he thought about it now, the more it seemed like she was the one who was giving him all the help. It all made sense, after all. Everything fit with the way she was. She wasn't a guard—though he didn't know her job, he knew she was higher up, so that meant she knew more than most. So she knew which buildings to lead him to. With the right job, she might even have the means to get inside all the buildings and know the full details about the experiments. From the very beginning, she had been leaving him clues to help him on his mission. To allow him to figure out more about the estate, the experiments…about everything.

Why had he never considered this possibility? From the moment he saw her, he'd known she was different. She wore different clothes, she acted different…just the way she was in general. As he'd seen her more he'd gathered she was a powerful ninja, too. So why had the idea that she could be the one helping him out all this time, leading the way and giving him clues…why had it seemed so impossible? She was more than capable, and he hadn't suspected her of being on their side after seeing the way she tried to be involved as little as possible. Kakashi had simply underestimated her completely, even though he'd thought from the beginning she was special. For who knows how long, she had known he was here, and most likely what he was doing.

But what was he going to do about it now? Obviously she wanted to help him—well, she pretty much already was. The fact that he'd been getting into so many buildings had all been because of her. Kakashi never would have been able to find out all that he had without her help. Naturally he was going to use the information to stop what Daraku was doing—but he wanted to pay her back. He wanted to help her too. It was clear she didn't like the way she had to live in the estate. But he could change that. Having to constantly leave clues like this was a little slow anyway; if they could talk face to face—if they could actually meet—then it could speed things up. He could help her get away from here.

And it would change things forever.


	7. Chapter 7

In his mind, Kakashi felt as if another goal had been added to his mission.

He might have been ordered to take down Daraku, kill the assassin and stop the experiments and plans he had going, but he couldn't help but feel compelled to help her out as well. True, it might not be easy, and he would have to be careful about this; there were numerous risks involved if Kakashi was going to become allies with her. But he had seen enough from the time he'd been in the estate, and it was obvious that she didn't want to be here and she didn't want this to continue. Why not accept help from someone who was willing to give it—and someone who Kakashi intuitively felt was meant for more than this? So even though it would merely add to his list of things to do, increasing the amount of work he would have to do and make things more complicated, Kakashi wasn't about to leave her behind.

It was just going about it that made things difficult. If he could begin to work with her, then—well, everything could work in his favour. She would know all the info from living here, she knew the people, the places…and he would have back up to help him out when it came down to finally acting on all he had found out about the estate. The mission would move smoothly from that point onwards; but that point was not a straightforward and trouble-free one to get to. He didn't see her that often, after all, and apart from watching her and evidently the clues she had left for him, there had been no contact between the both of them. From each other's perspectives, they were enigmas, without a name or anything else to go along with their appearance. Finding out information about the experiments taking place was one thing when evidence of them was in several of the buildings and on paper. But finding out about a _person_ when they were moving about and keeping on the down low was not an easy task. Ninjas in general were not the type of people to stick out overall.

But he had to do what he could.

So starting the next day, as well as collecting the usual information on the estate and the experiments Daraku was doing, Kakashi would see if he could spot her again and learn any more about her. The land was held in demesne, so he wouldn't exactly be outing her—or himself, for that matter—but there had to be some matter to find out something more than what he knew now. Kakashi understood she was special; she was unlike the rest of the people who worked here, but why that was remained a mystery to him. So for the next couple of days Kakashi continued to search for any information and discover who she was. She still helped him by leaving him clues like she had always done, and he saw her a few times every now and again.

More recently he followed her more often than he went looking for information on the experiments, though if he noticed she left him any clues he always followed them up, not knowing whether she would get in trouble for it or not. He just hadn't expected to find that after following her one day, at one point she turned round and looked directly in the place he was hiding. However he could hope that she had no idea he was there, he couldn't deny it when he knew her abilities—there was no way she didn't know he was there. She did nothing about it on the other hand, merely turning away after a few moments with what Kakashi thought was a slight nod; and it certainly gave him something to think about for the rest of the night. He'd known she knew he was in the estate; after all, she wouldn't have been leaving the doors open otherwise. But to acknowledge him so openly; it had caught him out, to say the least, and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

But it definitely started something. She knew Kakashi was following her—that he wanted to find out more. In turn, she wanted to know more about him, and so she began showing herself more frequently, and even without conversing in the same way most would, they managed to build up a strange sort of friendship. Kakashi saw more of her personality and she, already knowing where he had set up camp, kept an eye on him and learnt more about his character. What neither of them had been expecting, however, was that as they did so, they immediately connected with each other, and in a weird way, felt they understood each other. How that was, it wasn't quite certain, considering they hadn't actually spoken, but they both knew without having said a word that when they did talk, they would have a lot more in common than they ever could have predicted they could have.

Kakashi was doing well so far, she thought. But it was only a little later on that she realised that it wasn't quite enough. She'd left the door to the building open where Daraku had done another experiment recently so Kakashi could see what was going on, but what she also wanted him to see was the paper trail that went with it. The ninjas often wrote things down to keep track of what they were doing, and also to work out equations or the like in case they needed to know the exact measurements of something they would be using within the experiment. But that merely left behind documents that others could read—including Kakashi. Only the documents weren't left out like the experiments; they were kept in cabinets and the like, and he wouldn't know where to look unless she left him a note telling him. She'd never done something like that, however; communicating in any form whatsoever. In a way, in kind of made her nervous. She was sort of the enemy, after all. She didn't want to be, and wanted to free of the estate and make her own life elsewhere…but that didn't stop her from worrying about what Kakashi thought of her and whether he doubted her loyalty and trustworthiness.

Though really, what did she have to worry about? Like she'd said, she didn't want to be here and wanted to stop everything Daraku was doing, and had been helping Kakashi to do so, so far. She knew she could trust Kakashi; he was from Konoha and had been entrusted on this mission to begin with, she had seen him now and again and knew his character and there was a lot of things that were similar between them. There was just something she connected with, with Kakashi. Even if they hadn't spoken, she could tell they had a lot in common, and as such, she no longer hesitated in quickly jotting down a message and leaving it in plain sight for him to find—and only him. It wouldn't do particularly well for one of Daraku's ninjas to find it now they were beginning to collect the kind of information that could take Daraku down and stop the experiments.

Then once she was satisfied that everything was in place and safe, she backed out and waited to see what would happen, watching as Kakashi entered the building a couple of minutes later with a smirk on her face. He made his way around the building and did the usual checks, noting down any information that was of use and that he could add to what he already knew—he only stopped when he finally noticed the note on the table on the side of the room. Narrowing his eyes, at first he wasn't sure what to do, but as he fully read the note he had to force down a slight surge of excitement at the idea he'd had his first contact from her. Picking up the note and placing it in his pocket so no one else would find it, he headed over to the cabinets and opened them up to read through the documents.

But even after he'd finished and started to leave, that slight excitement didn't fade, much in the same way her smirk had remained on her face as she stayed hidden in the trees to watch Kakashi leave the building and disappear into the surroundings. They just couldn't help it—they'd been wanting this to happen for a while now. For Kakashi, it was another part of his mission, and for her…it was a life goal. She wanted to get out of here and be free. She wanted to know Kakashi; he wanted to know her—and with that message, they'd made a start. True, it wasn't a face-to-face meeting, and it might take a little longer before they'd actually get to converse and do anything more, but it was still a start. Both of them had been through a lot in their lives, and at the moment it was more evident than ever.

Which is why that message was more helpful than anyone would know.


	8. Chapter 8

From then on, they knew they were close to finally meeting.

And they were looking forward to it.

It still didn't happen quickly, just bumping into one another in the estate and starting to talk, but they both knew they could help each other out. Not to mention the feeling that they connected had only grown from the moment they had started to discover more of one another. Though she probably had a little more reason to be excited than Kakashi did. She had always had her doubts about what she was doing; although she had known she wanted to help Kakashi when she had found out he was coming to the estate on a mission to stop the experiments, she had understood it was a risk. There was no telling what would happen to her if Daraku found out—but she wasn't willing to sit back in the same way she'd done for so long. Comprehending that her situation was not one she wanted to live in and have things remain the same for the rest of her life, and suddenly the possibilities of all those risk weren't so bad after all. If it meant she could stop this and get away…then what did it matter?

The message she had left for him had acted as a trigger in terms of several things. Before they hadn't ever communicated at all, merely seeing each other now and again as they went around the estate, and it had made things a little problematic for them both. It would have been easier if she could have simply told Kakashi where to go and at what time, true, and if he could have asked her what he needed to know in return. Then again the lack of communication also probably helped in some ways, as they _both_ needed to stay in the shadows to avoid anyone finding anything out. The message also meant, that as they could convey a little more than just the basic directions or general things of what they wanted each other to do, Kakashi had the chance to find out more about her. He'd already decided he wanted to help her and get her out of there—possibly even invite her to Konoha if she needed a place to go—and with the 'invention' of words, that was actually a possibility.

The mission itself was only going to pick up the pace now that they could communicate, and this was evident the next day as Kakashi started looking for information once again. Just like before, however, he found another message. Knowing she was going to be leaving the place open for Kakashi to have a look around when there had been a lot going on in the building overnight, she had debated with herself for a while as to whether to leave another message so soon. A part of her contemplated the prospect of receiving a message from Kakashi instead—but it was then that she realised it was a lot easier for her to leave messages for him than the other way around. She knew where he was going to be and where and when to place the messages so none of the ninjas or guards in the estate would find them. Kakashi, on the other hand, didn't see her very often and didn't know anything about her life here. How would he know where to put a message so that she would find it and no one else would end up stumbling across it?

Not that she thought he was stupid enough to just leave it in the middle of the forest.

But shaking off the idea of simply waiting for Kakashi to 'reply', she had written another message and left it, like last time, in the building for him to find. Though it hadn't taken him long; though he had looked around and mentally taken notes about what had happened, Kakashi, too, had wondered about what would occur next. He didn't want to come across _too_ enthusiastic, after all…and he'd also considered the possibility of where he was supposed to leave it. So coming into the building he'd been looking for another note just as much as he'd been focusing on his mission—and had to shake off the smirk that appeared on his face when he spotted it a moment later.

This time she told him that it would be easier to leave messages in his base camp, as none of the guards or ninjas went around there, Kakashi went there often enough to always see the messages, and she would always know where to find them; not to mention time would never be an issue as they wouldn't have to wait until no one was around to collect or leave a message. After reading it, it sounded fine by him, and as such, in order to test it out, after he'd finished looking around the building and gathering what information he could there, Kakashi headed back and left a note for her to find—whenever she might decide to head over to his base camp.

Though considering she didn't want to be involved with everything that was going on in the estate—and the fact she was finding it hard to suppress her excitement at being so close to getting out of the estate—it didn't take her long before she checked up on Kakashi's base camp to see if there was a reply. It was how things continued for the next few days, leaving messages for each other, and over time, they gradually began to learn more, and in a way, built up a friendship with one another—even if it was an unusual sort of friendship. But as they communicated more, she wasn't so much of a shadow—well, at least not in Kakashi's life, anyway. Whereas normally she only appeared for a few moments to show Kakashi where he should go and what information he should collect, doing her own thing the rest of the time, she wasn't so quick to disappear when she showed whatever places were of interest to Kakashi. She also turned up more often in general.

They couldn't exactly work together in the same way a real team would, but they did what they could to help each other out—though Kakashi often felt it was generally a lot more one-sided on her part. She'd done so much to help him, and although he was going to complete his mission and stop Daraku from doing all these experiments—and help her out in the meantime—he hadn't really come through on anything. He just had to content himself with the fact that he _would_ be helping her by taking Daraku down, along with the assassin and the estate in general. Though it didn't help during the times when, trying to collect information, he was dangerously close to being caught, and it was her who got him out of it and protected him. Maybe when Kakashi could invite her to come to Konoha things wouldn't feel this way; it wasn't as if he was jealous. It just didn't seem as if he was doing as much to help her, as she was to help him.

Plus there was something else that had been bothering Kakashi lately. Even with how they had started communicating with each other, learning more about each other and seeing more of each other than before…he still didn't know her name. He'd considered the idea of simply asking her in a message about it, but with the fact that she'd avoided telling him so far, he couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason for it. Still, he wanted to know—he was getting closer to her and felt connected to her. Kakashi felt he understood her and knew she'd been through a lot in her life too; but there was only so much he could do if he didn't even know her name!

Then one night as Kakashi began to head to bed, something occurred to him. Maybe she didn't want to announce herself in a message. They'd been getting to know each other—even if it had been slowly—so maybe she was waiting until they met face-to-face before they could finally introduce themselves. Well, she already knew who he was. But when Kakashi thought about it that way, it wasn't so bad. It meant they'd get to meet and actually be able to talk out loud, rather than a written conversation—it was just the waiting for it to happen that was the annoying bit. The mission was slow enough as it was, let alone with everything else adding onto it. He didn't want to push her…but their meeting would be the start of a lot of things. From there the mission would be easy to finish, he could help her out, and they could head back to Konoha.

In that case—maybe he didn't _have _to wait.

The more he laid there thinking about it, the more it rolled around inside his mind, overwhelming his thoughts and stopping him from sleeping. He could take the first step in all of this—what was wrong with that? It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong; it was a good thing for both of them. Why he suddenly felt nervous about the idea was beyond him, but shaking it off, Kakashi got up and headed out into the forest of the estate to look for her. From his experience, she appeared to be up for a lot of the night, so he might catch sight of her if he had a look around now. For the first few minutes or so, Kakashi didn't spot anything—but then finally he heard something up ahead, and started heading over to take a look.

And it led to more than he'd ever expected…


	9. Chapter 9

Blinking in surprise, Kakashi saw it was her, and after a moment's pause, considering everything he'd just been thinking of, he realised what he was doing and began to move forward. He'd been going over it all in his head repeatedly for the last couple of days, and he'd decided only a few minutes ago that he was going to get up and look for her—and not just to stand in the shadows and observe her. The entire reason he was standing there now—apart from the mission, of course—was to finally get a chance to talk to her face-to-face, rather than the written messages they'd been communicating with so far. He hadn't even known if he'd be able to find her, and with her level of skills, it would be easy to remain invisible if she chose to—Kakashi could consider him lucky to have actually found her. He couldn't just stand there and let the opportunity pass him by, and so he was going to talk to her.

Only for him to notice something that made him hesitate.

She wasn't acting the way she usually did; at ease with the forest around her but still on guard and ready for anything that might come her way. Kakashi had always thought she looked totally in control whenever he saw her—but it wasn't that way now. For one thing, she had even noticed he was so close by, when normally she would have been able to sense he was around a long time ago. Then as she turned slightly, Kakashi saw the expression on her face, and could see it was one of concern; she was worried about something. Whatever had happened, it was bothering her a lot if it was revealing itself on the surface, and ultimately it worried Kakashi right away. This was not like her, and it had to be something big if she was being affected like this. But what was going on? What had caused this?

A moment later and she turned, beginning to walk off into the trees, and it didn't take long before Kakashi started to follow her. If she was in trouble, or there was a danger of that becoming the case, he wanted to be around to make sure he was close enough to do something about it. The idea of just stepping back and letting her go on alone, then finding out something awful had happened to her tomorrow morning…it was not one Kakashi liked to entertain, and as such he kept hidden and followed on behind her. Not once did she ever acknowledge his presence, clearly not knowing he was there, her mind evidently focused on something else that took priority right now. Though he considered the possibility of bumping into some guards or other ninja working for Daraku, she didn't seem to want to come into contact with anyone either, weaving through the estate while remaining totally alone.

But eventually she came up to the edge of this stretch of forest, a building up ahead of her, and her pace slowed dramatically. It was as if she was forcing herself to take every step, and Kakashi didn't like it, scanning the area in front to see what was going on there and spotting a man leaning against the corner of the building. Getting as close as possible without coming out of the cover of the trees, Kakashi saw his expression wasn't one of happiness. Clearly he had to be a higher up, as his clothes weren't a guard's uniform, though Kakashi hadn't seen him before. He constantly glanced around, his arms crossed as he stood there, obviously waiting for something. And Kakashi got a feeling what it was, something that was made evident as his gaze finally stopped on her and his frown deepened, a scowl appearing on his face. Pushing himself off the wall, he walked forward to meet her, growling lowly,

"There you are, Kukyo! You took your damn sweet time about it. We all know how you got this job, but why he even bothered, I don't know. You're a pretty face and that's it."

Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi couldn't stop a small feeling of happiness rising inside of him at the idea he finally knew her name. _Kukyo_. It had taken him long enough, but it connected him to her in a way nothing had before—only his excitement was dampened by how this guy was treating her. As she stood there, she never met his gaze, saying nothing and with a blank expression on her face as he insulted her and treated her like shit, and any glad feelings Kakashi might have had disappeared entirely as he went on aggressively, though never raising his voice to a shout,

"You're supposed to be a hotshot—but really, what good are you? You're pathetic. But whatever; you got picked for this, so do it already, and don't waste anyone's time. Look at you! You're part of the Aimi family—so fucking act like it!"

At that, however, and Kakashi wasn't sure _how_ to feel.

Daraku's full name was Daraku Aimi—he'd been told that during his mission briefing. But…Kukyo was related to him? It couldn't just be a case of having the same name; it wasn't very common, and not to mention the situation of having the same name and working for Daraku in the estate was too coincidental to be by chance. Kukyo had to be related to him—his daughter, maybe? Her age fit. In a way it explained a lot. How she knew all this stuff; how she was able to get into all the buildings and make a way for Kakashi to get in as well, how she never got bothered by anyone on the estate. How she was around at unusual times—she lived here. Looking back on things now it made sense that something was going on there—Kakashi had just never picked up on it. But did this knowledge change everything? Could he still work with Kukyo? The idea of teaming up with her and taking her back to Konoha with him after the mission was over suddenly seemed stupid.

But Kakashi quickly shook his head, clenching his fists in protest. No; that wasn't right. All right, Kukyo might be Daraku's daughter—or so went his theory—but everything he'd seen from her hadn't been an act. The way she had acted had been as if she didn't want to be involved, always avoiding the buildings and keeping out of sight. She had shown him so much and helped with the information—why do that if she didn't want to stop the experiments? Even if she had been trying to get close to him and then betray him, Kakashi had been in the estate for over a week; why not reveal him by now? It would only be worse for Daraku if she didn't. And the messages she had written for him; Kakashi knew they were genuine. No one would have gone to so much effort to write some of those. There had been a chance that anyone who was working here could be against him, but Kakashi had known that she could be trusted to help out before he knew her surname. He still knew she was genuine—so why should that change anything at all?

If anything, now that he thought about it, Kakashi realised just how bad it must be for Kukyo, living the way she was. With the way that guy had acted towards her, there was a chance other people did the same, even with Daraku being her father. Dealing with that treatment couldn't be easy, especially when she was doing something she didn't want to be doing. She had to watch the experiments going on every day, and know there was nothing she could about it on her own. She needed help, wanting to stop things, get out and be free—but no one was there to help her. But now Kakashi could be. He was here to complete his mission and to help her; and it seemed like doing one thing affected the other—it was killing two birds with one stone. Whatever he could do, he understood he was willing to do it to help her.

Snapping out of his trance to notice that the guy had left, and Kukyo had headed back into the forest, Kakashi realised he had even more reason to talk to her than he had a few minutes ago. With that thought in mind, he instantly began to chase after her, waiting until they were a little further into the trees before he finally gave up on concealing himself and jumped to the floor. From there he continued forwards, calling out when he was closer,

"Wait! Don't go, Kukyo! I know now—I understand!"

But although she halted, she didn't turn to face him, frozen to the spot. He knew she was Daraku's daughter—the one thing she hadn't wanted him to find out, and it happened. A feeling of almost fear came over her; that he didn't trust her or like her anymore, and she didn't know what to do. With Kakashi on her side, it felt as if she could get away and be free from this place. But obviously that was never going to happen—

So she did the only thing she could do.

She ran.


	10. Chapter 10

For a moment Kakashi was frozen as Kukyo ran, confused at her reaction.

But it didn't take him long before he immediately began to chase after her, cursing the situation mentally. If he had been outside of the estate, in any other area, he would have been able to call out to Kukyo and try and reason with her; to try and stop her from running any further. But considering the way things were, there was nothing he could do—he had to remain silent, only hoping that he would be able to catch up with her and explain things from there. The only problem was that Kakashi wasn't even certain as to why she had run on the first place. He hadn't exactly said much, but something about what he'd said obviously affected her. Though what that was, he had no idea. He thought about it as he ran, but he couldn't come up with an explanation.

There had to be one, though. She wouldn't have just run off like that otherwise. Kukyo considered him an ally, and she wanted to get away from here—so why would she run away from him? What was it about what he had done that had caused her to do that? Then as he considered those questions repeatedly in his mind, a theory started to form. Maybe it was about what he _hadn't_ said, as well as what he had. From what he had heard when eavesdropping on that conversation, Kukyo wasn't treated very well here. If the rest of the ninjas here treated her like that, she couldn't have many friends. He might have been the first person to treat her amicably. Why they treated her like that in the first place, Kakashi had never understood, considering she was Daraku's daughter, but either way it was clear it wasn't something that Kukyo was proud of. No doubt that was why she tried to hide it from him and never introduce herself, keeping at a distance and never getting close to anyone with her situation.

However, he'd found out anyway—even if it had been by accident. Then he'd tried to approach her, but he hadn't said much. He hadn't said that he was okay with the fact that she was Daraku's daughter; that it didn't matter to him and he still wanted to be allies and friends with her. She'd started running before he could explain anything. So maybe that was why she'd left. Kukyo thought that now Kakashi knew about her father and who she really was, he wouldn't trust her anymore. That he was angry with her, and he'd approached her to yell, before continuing his mission without her help. It wasn't the case in the slightest, but she had never heard his explanation. And as he came to a halt at the edge of the stretch of forest within the estate, Kakashi knew the truth: Kukyo was gone. It might not be completely, leaving the estate and heading off, but she wouldn't be so willing to come into contact with him now.

What was he supposed to do?

It was a thought that plagued him as he eventually headed back to his base camp and got some sleep, images appearing in his dreams and making him toss and turn in his sleep. He didn't want to just abandon the whole idea of getting closer to Kukyo—he would never have made it this far without her. He'd made her a part of his mission. And it was why, when he woke up, Kakashi had made his decision. After getting up and grabbing something to eat, he headed off into the estate, but not to see if he could find any information in the buildings. No; Kakashi was going to search for Kukyo and explain himself. He felt guilty for having caused this, and couldn't imagine how she might be feeling right now. The fact that the mission slowly slipped from his mind didn't occur to him, instead concentrating solely on finding Kukyo—she was all that mattered.

From the beginning, they had both connected, and in a way, both Kakashi and Kukyo had liked how their friendship began. Kakashi had distanced himself from the people around him ever since his father had died, and that had only increased after losing the entirety of his team, too. Kukyo hated her situation and the fact that she had Daraku for a father; she'd never had that kind of closeness before with somebody, being friends and getting to know one another. Both of them had been hesitant to get close to anyone again, not wanting to have to go through the kind of negative experiences they had experienced before. But with the way they had become friends, it had been slow paced; gradually getting closer to one another bit by bit, and it was always at their own pace. For once Kakashi wanted to continue with it, so he couldn't just let it end here.

So he started to search. Of course, he would be at a disadvantage; Kukyo knew the estate like the back of her hand, no doubt, and she was a high enough level ninja to easily be able to hide in the shadows. Hell, she'd been doing that since he'd first arrived. It had taken a while to even see what she looked like; to begin with she'd just been a shadow that had helped him out, without a face or a name. Not to mention Kukyo could go pretty much wherever she wanted, but Kakashi would have to remain hidden in order to avoid being seen by any guards or higher up ninjas. As these things crossed his mind, part of him felt a twinge of concern that he wouldn't be able to find Kukyo if she didn't want to be found, but he shook it off and concentrated on what he had to do. So what if it would be difficult? He _had_ to do this. For most of the day he searched all around the estate, wishing he could go out into the open and wondering how Kukyo was feeling about all this.

She wasn't going at the same sort of pace he was, to say the least.

At first she had just kept running, and for a moment, the possibility of just leaving the estate popped up in her head, but it soon faded away. She couldn't just leave—Daraku wouldn't let it be. No matter where she went or how far she travelled, he would follow her until he could find her and bring her back. So at first instead she headed to the one place she knew Kakashi couldn't come: her room. He had to remain hidden, after all, so he wouldn't exactly be exploring inside the buildings. For several hours she sat there, having no idea what she should do now. She wished she could just brush him aside and continue on with her goals regardless of whether Kakashi was around or not; but even with the way with the way her life had been, mostly isolated and treated like shit by the people around her, she didn't want to be alone. Kukyo would admit she found it hard to trust people…but that didn't mean she didn't want to do so.

Eventually she couldn't take it anymore; the air in her room felt stuffy and suffocating, and she had to get out, even if there was a bigger chance of running into Kakashi out there. But all she'd been doing was sitting in her room or pacing up and down. Going for a walk always helped to clear her mind, and being cooped up in her room didn't help in the slightest—so she had to leave. Making sure no one was around to see her, Kukyo disappeared into the trees. At this point, with her mind as tumultuous as it was, she didn't want to found by her father or by Kakashi, and continued through the trees alone. There was no direction she was specifically heading in, and she wasn't keeping up a fast pace as she did so—she just wanted to walk, so the speed and direction really didn't matter in the slightest.

But nothing seemed to be solved. Kukyo was torn between everything that had happened, and there didn't seem to be any solution. She still cared about Kakashi; to her, he was like the first friend she'd ever really had. However, he now knew who her father was. That had been the one thing she wanted to keep secret; even if he found out about the kind of work she did here, she thought she could hide her family from him, at least. Only that clearly hadn't worked. What would he think of her now? She would just be considered the enemy, and no doubt there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise. If she could just get him to stop and listen; to let her explain she wanted this over as much as he did, even with Daraku being her father…but what good would that do her? Would it even work?

Sighing inwardly, Kukyo glanced up at the sky and saw the sun was beginning to set, and realised it was about time to head back to her room and get some sleep. With one last glance at the forest around her, remembering how things had been only a short time before; so much promise and possibility at being able to finally leave the estate and get a better life than she had here, Kukyo turned around to head back to her room—

Only to come face to face with Kakashi.


	11. Chapter 11

At first Kukyo was tempted to simply run again. But seeing the expression in his eyes, something made her halt; so by the time he gently gripped her wrist to keep her in place, she wasn't about to go anywhere. Instead she faced him, narrowing her eyes and forcing her heartbeat to slow down; for her to show no sign of the anxiety that was building up inside of her. She had no idea why he had decided to come after her—she had thought finding out who her father was would be the very thing that would mean Kakashi would never want to come near her again. Yet instead he was here; and he didn't seem angry in the slightest. A part of her was relieved, a hopeful feeling instantly igniting within her at the idea things weren't as bad as she'd originally thought, but she couldn't let herself give in completely to that emotion. She'd done it before, and things had never turned out well. So instead Kukyo remained blank faced; staring intensely at Kakashi and waiting to see what would happen next as he began quietly,

"Kukyo…I'm sorry. About before; I didn't mean to come across like that, I swear. But I don't care about what I heard—about your father. It doesn't matter to me. I know you can help me shut this place down for good, and I want to help you."

No reply came from Kukyo, but there was nothing she could even begin to say at his words. Of all things to have been expecting from Kakashi; it hadn't been this. All she could do was continue to stare in silence, that hopeful feeling continuing to grow, but disbelief appearing as well. She half expected it to be a joke; no one had ever treated her like this before. But it didn't seem to be the case as Kakashi continued,

"I can see how tough things are for you living here—you deserve better. I _know_ you do. I want to help take your father down; to give you a new life. Konoha would welcome you—the Hokage would understand your situation, Kukyo. Please…you've done so much for me already. I want to do something in return."

It was only now, with those last words, that it hit Kukyo—really hit her—that Kakashi was being genuine with all of this. To begin with she still didn't know what to say; this sort of situation had never happened to her. The idea that someone could be nice to her, and not because they wanted something out of it or because they were mocking her and making fun of her…it was completely unheard of for Kukyo. She almost couldn't believe it, if it weren't for how he was being with her now. For once in her life, someone actually, sincerely cared about her, and she had to fight to stop it from totally overwhelming her. Pretty much all throughout her life, Kukyo had felt alone and isolated from everyone around her. But Kakashi had changed all that, and a feeling of happiness arose in the pit of her stomach. She might have dismissed everything else with his words, but knowing there was so much Kakashi didn't know about her kept her from truly giving in to her emotions. As much as she wanted to simply go along with everything…she could never forget.

Though still; his actions had caused her happiness enough that a small smirk blossomed over her face. It was soon reflected on Kakashi, having been wondering what her reaction would be when she had been standing there in silence, and her expression unreadable, meaning he had had no idea what she was thinking or what she would do next. Whether she had been about to run again or agree had been a mystery to him; so all Kakashi had been able to do was wait to see what would occur—and he was a little more relieved than he felt he probably should be as she smirked, hiding a sigh and trying not to entirely relax at her response. But Kukyo still had not said a thing, and as such Kakashi waited a bit longer, not wanting to push her as she finally said with a nod,

"I'd like for you to help me, Kakashi-san. I'm willing to work with you—to get out of this place."

Saying it out loud only seemed to cement the fact that all of this was really happening, and that she really would be able to leave the estate. For so long Kukyo had dreamed of it, but after years of doing so and never getting anywhere, she had gotten to a point where she no longer thought it was going to happen anymore. Now, however, and it was right there in front of her, and she could allow herself to be a little hopeful. When she had found out Kakashi was coming to the estate for a mission, and then that he had been ordered to take down her father, she had never imagined this was how things would turn out…but it was going a lot better than she had thought. She just had to make sure that things continued to go as well as they had been so far, and with that thought in mind, she realised they were standing out in the open, and pointing that fact out to Kakashi, they concealed themselves once more—but they didn't part ways.

Remembering that if it hadn't been for Kakashi coming to find her, she wouldn't be in this position right now, Kukyo said quietly,

"I'm sorry for running away before. I just…you're from Konoha, and—" But then Kakashi cut in, shaking his head platonically,

"It's okay, Kukyo. I understand. If somebody didn't have any idea who you were, and just heard that you were Daraku's daughter, they might think you were the enemy. I'm supposed to be taking him down—it was natural for you to be worried after I came across as vague as I did. But thank you for listening."

"I should be doing the thanking here, Kakashi-san."

So they stayed hidden for a while longer, taking the chance to finally talk face to face and get to know each other in a way that they'd never been able to before. Well, Kukyo had known about Kakashi since the beginning, and everything he'd done she'd been watching him. She'd directed most of his actions in the first place, showing him where to go and what he would need to do to get information. Though she had seen who he was, had clearly known his name and where he was from, Kakashi had had no idea who Kukyo was for the most part. She had been a shadow, and even when he'd eventually seen what she looked like, he didn't have a clue who she actually was or what her name was. It was only now that he was finding out anything more about her than a few simple facts.

Though it wasn't the most pleasant story to hear as Kukyo began to answer his questions and tell him a few things about her life in the estate. From that one conversation he'd overheard, Kukyo's life there wasn't the easiest; not necessarily because of the environment: as Daraku's daughter, she lived in the best house with a good room and all the stuff she could want. But she didn't want any of that stuff—she never had. Right from when she was young Daraku had never really paid attention to her, brushing her aside and acting as if she didn't exist. Kyuko had tried to impress him and make something of herself and became a ninja. The amount of skill and power she possessed had surprised her father, and so he had allowed her to do jobs for him.

But it hadn't exactly got any easier. Kukyo had started to see what Daraku's plan was, and knew right away she didn't want any part of it. Though the idea of simply leaving without stopping everything he was doing wasn't something Kukyo could do. If she would even be able to leave in the first place. And then when the others working in the estate saw what she could do, they called her a freak and treated her as if she was monster—and it wasn't as if they thought she was being treated specially because of Daraku. They considered her on the same level he did; and what shocked Kakashi the most was that Kukyo brushed it off. To her, it wasn't a big deal—not anymore. She'd dealt with all her life to the point where it was normal for her now.

But the moment she said it, Kakashi narrowed his eyes, his determination reaching a peak.

He was going to do whatever it took to get her out of here.


	12. Chapter 12

They talked a lot more over the next couple of days.

When Kakashi went around the estate and looked for information and checked up on things, Kukyo no longer had to lead him to where she wanted him to look and leave doors open for him to go inside. Now she showed him the buildings that were most important; talked him through what she knew of the experiments and what was going to be happening next that he might want to know about. They made sure they knew what jobs were going to be done next and talked over everything that was going on in the estate; well, they were teammates now, and so they had to work together. It wasn't hard, considering they'd been working together a lot without knowing each other to begin with.

A big difference was that after they'd looked round and got the information they needed, they headed back into the forested areas of the estate, staying hidden from any of the guards of other ninjas that were around, and talked a bit longer, something they'd never had the chance to do with the situation the way it was before. The topic veered off the experiments, Daraku, and everything in the estate this time, however, and moved onto more casual subjects, continuing on from where they'd left off the first time. And they found they had a lot more in common than they'd thought. They'd both been through a lot in their lives—and they knew what it was like to feel alone. To have someone understand that fact in itself, and not just be saying it from empathy…it helped, though in what way neither of them was quite sure. There had always been something that had separated them both from the rest of the population, and made them feel as if they would never be understood. But by talking to each other, it felt as if something, at least, was being healed.

It connected them to one another; they had known they had been from the beginning, but by getting to know each other that connection only grew. As they continued their friendship, both of them were surprised at what it brought. Kakashi had come on this mission because—well, it was a mission. It was his job and what he had to do as a Konoha ninja. He had never expected anything like this to happen; to find Kukyo here and become friends with her like this. Even if he had acknowledged the possibility of becoming friends with someone on the mission, there was no way he could have predicted he would get on with them like this. Kakashi had lost everyone close to him in his life: his father, his sensei, his teammate…even his best friend. He had gone on with life, but he had felt alone in the meantime. But meeting Kukyo and that had changed slightly. He had always been aloof, but even though his defensiveness had faded as he lost those close to him, that aloofness had stayed. Kakashi hadn't wanted to get close to anyone again after going through that pain—he hadn't thought he could care about anyone like that again—but that had changed with Kukyo.

Kukyo, too, had been surprised at what she found when hanging out with Kakashi. Living in the estate, she had always been taught—and simply known from the way things had been—that she was different: and not in a good way. She was unusual; weird, and for those reasons she would remain alone and isolated for the entirety of her life and she would never have friends or any kind of relationship with anyone. And yet here she was with Kakashi, who not only was working with her, but continued to spend time with her in an informal way, talking with her and asking questions about her life—actually wanting to know more about her. Kukyo had never imagined she'd have been able to develop a relationship with anybody, but she got on so well with Kakashi. They had so many similarities, and Kukyo could forget about everything else that had happened to her knowing that she wasn't different when it came down to Kakashi—because that was all that mattered.

It changed a lot of things when it came down to carrying out the mission. It didn't feel like they were putting in much effort at all; now they were working together as allies and teammates and getting along as friends, it was so much easier doing everything. It wasn't that finishing the mission wasn't important to them both, but it wasn't at the forefront of all their goals and actions. Kakashi was much more determined to finish this now he was friends with Kukyo; knowing everything she'd been through and how they all treated her, it made him even more certain he was going to end it. In a way, he was focusing less on the mission he was ordered to complete, and more on making sure that Kukyo was rid of Daraku and everyone in the estate, and free to live her own life. Free to come back to Konoha and make a life for herself there. And the more he thought about the idea now, the more he liked it; of being able to see her everyday and work with her on missions just like this.

And it wasn't going to be long before that 'idea' would become a reality. Kakashi had known when he was first sent on the mission that it was going to be a long one; he hadn't been able to walk around in the open, or even interrogate people in order to get information as he didn't want anyone to know he was there, so things had taken twice as long. Even when Kukyo had started to help out, things still weren't as quick as they could have been otherwise. But with the way things were going now, it would only be a few days before Kakashi and Kukyo would have everything they needed to finally confront Daraku and stop all the experiments that were happening in the estate, and it would all be over; they could _both_ go back to Konoha, and it would turn out just as he had planned it.

There was one thing that was bothering Kakashi, however. The estate had been around for years, and the Aimi family had been living there for generations. From what he'd been finding out, the experiments had started with Daraku; none of his family had ever been involved in anything like this. But Kukyo had lived here since she was born. She had hated the way things had been back then, but Daraku was still her father, and she had wanted to do whatever she could to impress him and make him proud of her. Then she hadn't left because he was doing the experiments and she couldn't just walk away when people were being hurt. It was that fact that Kakashi had been thinking about lately. When Daraku had first began the experiments, Kukyo had been around, and he wasn't above manipulating her and forcing her to do things for him. Kakashi had heard her story, and it was clear Daraku didn't care about her.

But still…he wouldn't have done experiments on her, right?

It plagued him the more they found out and the closer they got to confronting Daraku and seeing Kukyo's nerves, to the point where eventually he had to ask her about it. A part of him didn't want to know, but at the same time…he had to ask, and meeting up one night, after a bit of small talk, he cut straight to the point and questioned bluntly,

"Daraku orders you to do stuff, Kukyo…but has he ever done any of the experiments on you?" Seeing her narrow her eyes in surprise, he quickly continued, "We're so close to stopping all of this, and I noticed you seem…nervous. I couldn't help but wonder."

For a moment she paused, wondering whether to answer or not, but eventually gave in. Kakashi knew the majority of her story and he had accepted everything, so what was there to worry about? As such, she replied softly,

"I'm nervous because I've always wanted to leave, but I never actually got to the stage where I was able to. Now I'm actually doing it, however, and I can't help but overthink everything."

But Kakashi wasn't satisfied with Kukyo avoiding the original question, pestering for more, only to see her shrug, causing him to clench his fists in anger. Instantly she laid a hand on his shoulder, calming him down as she explained further,

"I can't deny he did _some_ experiments, but it was never like what he's done to the people here. It was more like…testing the things he was going to use and whether they worked or not. In a way it made it worse, I guess; I survived everything, my power was unusual before he did anything, and I hid my emotions to make things easier, so I appeared cold-blooded—everyone thought I was a freak."

Then all the worry faded away as Kakashi responded simply,

"It's not that way anymore, Kukyo. And nothing like that's going to happen when you go to Konoha."


	13. Chapter 13

Kukyo wasn't having the reaction she had expected to Kakashi's words.

It certainly wasn't the reaction she wanted.

But the moment Kakashi had started saying about 'the way things would be in Konoha', it had finally occurred to her that everything was moving forward now. It wasn't just a matter of wandering around day-to-day and dreaming of how things might turn out—it was really happening. It wouldn't be much longer until Kakashi would be confronting Daraku and stopping all of the experiments taking place in the estate. She would be able to leave, knowing there was nothing holding her back from doing so this time around. Her life would not be the walls of the estate any longer. She was free to do what she wanted: to do missions she agreed with, to meet new people, get her own place, see new things…everything that had been kept from her. And she wanted to see Kakashi again; even if she wasn't sure what level her feelings were at, she knew he was her friend. He had been the one to save her, after all.

The idea of going to Konoha; living and working there…that in itself was great. Kukyo had been to the village a few times now and again, but it was mostly at night, and it was never exactly to take a tour. She had wanted to see more, but her father would never have let her. It was an amazing ninja village, known all over the world, so to be working there; getting a headband, joining the ranks—thinking about it brought up a feeling of excitement within her. The possibilities of what her life could be like were suddenly endless, and they were all good. She trusted Kakashi's words when he said she wouldn't have to deal with the same treatment she had had here, and it was more than she could ask for to actually be considered a part of the team rather than an outsider, the way she had always been.

And yet the concept of actually _going_ to Konoha, of making her dream a reality…it made Kukyo freeze with worry and, in a way, fear. Just because you imagined something one way in your head, didn't mean it would turn out that way in reality. How could Kukyo be certain that things would be alright? She had lived in the estate all her life—Daraku was her _father_—what reason did that give to allow her to stay and work in Konoha? Sure, she might not have wanted to do all that she had to, but would that change anyone's opinion? She had still done it, when it came down to it, and there was nothing she could do that would change that. Kakashi kept talking about things as if she would just walk into Konoha and up to the Hokage, and he would instantly dismiss everything that had happened in her past!

Even if the Hokage did, what about the rest of the village? Surely the villagers would end up finding out about her past eventually—though it might not be the whole story, considering she would be a new arrival and generally someone of interest, they'd definitely want to know more. If anything that would make it worse. They'd only hear bits and pieces of her story, and might pick up on all the bad parts, building up this image of her being just like her father, regardless of what the Hokage's decision had been about letting her stay. Kukyo had given up on getting anyone's approval in the estate a long time ago; but it wasn't that way with Konoha. She respected the village greatly, and she didn't want to be on bad terms with anyone there. How could she know what would happen?

Not to mention Kakashi didn't even know the whole story about Kukyo's life. There were still things she was too afraid to tell him, even with how close they were and how she cared for him. If anything, it was _because_ of her friendship with him that meant she was to scared to say it out loud; Kakashi was the first person to really be friends with her and to appreciate her for who she was. He respected her, whether for her abilities or her personality, and Kukyo had never experienced that in her life before. As such, now she had it—something she considered to be precious to her—she didn't want to lose it, and every time she thought about telling him everything, and all she could think about was Kakashi turning his back on her. Of their bond being broken.

She didn't think she could stand it.

So she had kept quiet, telling him only what she thought was necessary—there had been when he had asked about her being experimented on, but fortunately enough she'd placated him. She didn't like to keep things from him when they'd connected so much on what they'd both been through, but she didn't feel she had any choice. The only thing Kukyo could be glad of at the moment was that her ninja training allowed her to keep all of her tumultuous emotions on the inside. No matter how riled up she felt, it never showed on her face or through her actions, and therefore—thankfully—Kakashi would never find out. Or at least she hoped. But it continued to haunt her, and it was made worse with how he often mentioned her moving to Konoha once it was all over and being able to make a life there.

It was always on Kukyo's mind as time went by, and her worries and concerns didn't seem to be easing with it. She didn't want to feel like this, not in the slightest. For so long Kukyo had thought over how she lived in the estate; the way things were with Daraku and the fact that she hated every minute of it. She had always wondered about life outside of the estate, dreaming of what it could be like. Knowing Konoha was so nearby and yet being stuck living like she had constantly brought a feeling of melancholy over her. Whenever she slept, Kukyo dreamt of the ideal way she wanted everything to be—and it had always been with her living in Konoha. It had been with her having made a life there and working there—having made friends there. So why was it that now she was so close to actually getting it, that she felt almost panicked at the prospect?

"What am I doing…?"

Kukyo whispered into the cool night air, sitting hidden in the branches of a tree near the boundaries of the estate. She'd told Kakashi the truth; that she wanted to go for a walk, just needing to be alone for a little while, and he had let her go, knowing things were difficult for her at the moment. She had wandered around a bit, trying to remain hidden in the meantime, but had ended up here somehow. It had been a couple of days since Kukyo had first started worrying about all of this, and tomorrow she and Kakashi were going to be carrying the final part of the mission out. They were going to be confronting her father, and that in itself was a bit of a hurdle.

But she shook herself out of that rut, at least; Kukyo knew she didn't want to stay in the estate. She knew she wanted to end what her father was doing and to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone again—it was why she had stayed in the first place. Even if she had other concerns right now, she didn't need to be worried about that. She was willing to do what was necessary to put a stop to this, and there was no way she would abandon Kakashi when he had done so much to help her. He was counting on her as well; they were working together as teammates. So she couldn't waver—she knew her ninja abilities, and trusted them; she could do this.

There was just that other part that was niggling around in her brain—as to what would happen after they'd finished the mission. Kakashi would take her to Konoha; it's not like she didn't want to go, but…what would they think? Would the Hokage dismiss her past because of her circumstances, or feel that Kukyo wasn't trustworthy enough, seeing her as suspicious? Sometimes Kukyo thought that people might sympathise with her because of her past—and yet other times she feared that people might be wary of her because of all she'd done. Even if she'd been forced into it, she'd still done it, right? There had to be something up with her if she could do all of that. And it brought Kukyo to a standstill, tearing her in two as to whether to just go along with everything and see what happened in Konoha, or to simply refuse and get out of there? It wouldn't be because she wanted to get away from Kakashi, but maybe it would be best to have a break before she joined; to let everyone forget.

But either way…

She had to make a decision soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Kukyo had slept here and there as the night had gone on; to be honest, she was just glad she'd slept at all, when it came down to it. She'd spent so long walking around thinking about everything that she'd started to worry that she wouldn't be able to sleep at all, and although she knew that she would have to go back to the base camp to talk to Kakashi, she thought she would end up just lying there staring up at the night sky with her mind going over everything again and again but never reaching a conclusion. Though she wouldn't have let it affect the mission now that they would finally be confronting Daraku and finishing the mission, the lack of physical rest would have done something to her; so she could be glad she'd got at least some rest.

Mental rest, however, was another matter. She hadn't come up with a conclusion as to what to do about staying in Konoha after the mission was over and what would happen when she went there and explained everything that had happened, and that was still rolling around in her thoughts. But it wasn't the only thing that was causing Kukyo mental turmoil. Although she had never been close to her father, and he had always treated her as if he hadn't really wanted her around; rather, he would have preferred a son and only kept Kukyo around because she still had a use, the idea of dealing with him and killing him wasn't exactly easy for her. She knew she had to do it—she _wanted_ to, after all her father had done by experimenting on civilians and ninjas from Konoha—but she still knew that the moment she did so wouldn't be an easy one and she would have to force herself onwards; if not, at least, for the sake of Kakashi.

Kakashi himself knew that it was going to be hard for her; after all Kukyo had been through, having to go through the last part before she could finally be free would be the most difficult. Truth be told, a small bit of him was slightly nervous at what was going to happen—the mission had been going on so long that he was almost expecting something to go wrong. But even as he thought this as he got up and got ready for everything that would be going on later, he shook it off and focused on what he knew he had to do. This was his mission that he had been ordered to carry out by his Hokage—his superior. Not to mention by taking out Daraku he would be freeing Kukyo and allowing her to get out of the estate and to come and live in Konoha. He couldn't let anything go wrong; a thought that cancelled out any nerves or concerns he may have been having before. All that mattered now was getting Kukyo out of here: freeing any other people that may still be being experimented on and destroying the rest of the equipment that Daraku had been using in the first place.

Neither Kakashi nor Kukyo wanted to state out loud what they needed to do to complete their mission as they got up and began to eat; they needed some time alone with their thoughts first. As such, they ate in silence, simply thinking over everything and wondering how things would go from here. Though they had both had worries, they had pushed them away to concentrate on the task ahead of them—Kukyo could face Konoha and what she would do once this was all over. But she wouldn't _have_ anything to worry _about_ if she didn't get this over and done with. Every now and again they glanced at each other, pondering what was going through their minds, though they never saw one another looking their way. Maybe it was better that way; without meeting his gaze, Kukyo could force all her feelings down, so by the time they started talking, she would be prepared and ready for it all, and nothing would show on the surface.

Something that came a moment later, as as Kakashi finished his breakfast, he glanced over and noticed Kukyo had also finished hers—not that either of them had been eating much. But with nothing else for either of them to do, he turned to her and said softly with a smirk,

"You ready?"

Looking up and seeing the kindness in his eyes, Kukyo smirked back at him, releasing a deep breath and replying quietly,

"As ready as I'll ever be."

With that in mind, they ran over their plan one more time to make sure both of them knew exactly what they would be doing. Kukyo had said when they had first started talking about confronting Daraku that she wasn't sure if she would be able to face him head on. Though she could stand there and say she would do it, she didn't want to go along with it, only to hesitate once she was faced with him on the battlefield. Understanding that entirely with the way he had treated Kukyo her entire life, Kakashi had therefore suggested destroying the building and blowing him up and the equipment in the process. She had been more than willing to agree with it, and after discussing it one more time in their 'base camp'—which, of course, would no longer be that way after today—they headed off towards the buildings to set things up.

Kukyo was nervous; she'd admit it. Even though knowing she was about to kill her father and most likely a large chunk of the ninjas who worked for him, it couldn't erase all of her fear. What if her father noticed what she was doing? What if he came out to face her and tried to kill her? Though she tried to shake that off as she and Kakashi continued through the forest and towards the buildings of the estate. She was of a much higher level than her father; so was Kakashi. Even if he did end up figuring out something was up and trying to confront her, she would be able to take him out, and there would be nothing he could do to hurt her or Kakashi. True, Kukyo would be a little hesitant with the situation and the circumstances being what they were, but at the same time, Kakashi was with her. More than not wanting herself to become injured…she didn't want him to get hurt. If her father tried to hurt him—she sure as hell would step in and do something then—she'd guarantee that.

There weren't many people in the estate—if any at all—that she cared about enough to fight for and protect; hell, maybe even give her life for. But she might just consider Kakashi to be one of them. He'd done so much for her in the past few days, and regardless of whether or not she didn't know what to do about joining Konoha and living there, he had still offered and said he would look after and protect her. No one in her life had ever treated her with kindness, let alone offer her a place to live and protection. That was what made Kakashi special, and that was why Kukyo held him in such high regard. She trusted him, and so even if she was nervous about the mission, she would go along with what he thought was right.

So they put explosives all around the buildings where the experiments were taking place, which was easy to find out now Kukyo was helping him out. Though it took them a while, considering there were several buildings they had to go round, and not to mention they had to remain silent and unnoticed throughout, eventually they managed to get to the end of it all, with the entirety of the buildings covered in explosives. From there, Kakashi and Kukyo backed off to a safe distance, not wanting to get caught in the blast radius, and once they knew they wouldn't be either blown up or hit by any debris that came their way from the explosion, Kakashi nodded in Kukyo's direction and hit the detonator, both of them covering their heads as a massive blast immediately sounded off; making sure they waited until it was completely silent before they headed back over to the rubble.

Kakashi glanced at Kukyo as they headed over to see her reaction, but if anything, she felt…free. All his life he had imprisoned her, but that was no longer the case. There was only one more thing they had to do. Going over to the building where Daraku had been when the bombs had gone off, they began to search through and pick out all the bodies so they could bury him and make sure he was gone. They found four in lab coats, obviously ninjas who helped out with the experiments…but no other bodies were in the buildings or surrounding it. Even when they looked in the other buildings they still didn't find his body, and Kukyo began to get angry. His body wasn't here.

And that meant he wasn't dead.


	15. Chapter 15

It couldn't be possible.

Kukyo didn't want to believe it. They'd been planning what to do for so long, and everything had seemed as if it would be absolutely perfect; Daraku and the rest of the ninjas would be dead, the mission would be complete, and they could head to Konoha. How could it have gone wrong? He was alive. Something must have changed this morning for Daraku. Being his daughter and doing so much for him she always knew what was going on in his plans. She had known what he was going to do today—or at least she had thought she had. She hadn't made omissions for sudden changes; like the ones he made that morning. Whereas she had expected him to head to one of the centre buildings, he had headed to one of the buildings on the very edges of the estate to check something out and make sure things were going to plan there. It meant he had been completely out of the blast radius and had simply watched the explosion go off.

From there he understood there had been an attack. That most of the people working for him were dead—and that he had to get out. So he'd left straight away. There were unlimited directions he could have gone in, and he'd had a lot of time to get a head start. Kukyo wouldn't be able to catch up now. He was away. She didn't know what to feel. For the first time in her life, Kukyo had had a chance to be free of him and to have a life of her own. To not have to do what he said and agree with his orders and beliefs. She could do what she liked. True, she doubted he was still in the area now; if someone was trying to kill you it was best to get as far away as possible, and he had always been a coward, getting someone—well, Kukyo—to fight for him and act as his shield. So he was undoubtedly miles away and dissipating into the forest, heading somewhere where he'd blend right in.

But that didn't mean he was utterly gone. He wouldn't have forgotten Kukyo with what she'd done to him, ruining his plans and everything he'd worked for. Though there hadn't exactly been proof of her betrayal, Kukyo had always been hesitant in her work; it made sense to think she would be a part of this. He would know she would have been part of that attack, and it would always be in his mind, regardless of how far he went. As Kukyo stood in the ruins of the estate, it was all she could think about, and Kakashi knew she felt bad for having let him get away in the first place. And she did; she felt guilty. He was her father, and it had been Kakashi's mission—she had been trying to help him; the reason he hadn't confronted him head on was because she couldn't face him. As such all of this had happened—because of her.

"Kukyo, it wasn't your fault. You told me a while ago that your father was a coward; it wouldn't have taken much for him to run. And after all he did to you it was utterly fair for you to decide to take him down other than face to face. Don't blame yourself." Kakashi's soft voice suddenly came out of nowhere, and turning to face him, she couldn't help but smirk at the kindness in his eyes. Even with how she felt, he was so wonderful to her. How she had lived here, no one had treated her like Kakashi had, and she would never forget it, continuing to smile as he went on,

"And anyway, he might have run, but we can track him down and finish things then. It won't make a difference what happened here. For now, at least, we can just head to Konoha."

For a moment, however, Kukyo remained standing there, turning back to look at the rubble, and Kakashi allowed her, knowing she had lived there all her life and that she needed to take a moment before she left. True, there was a part to her that was saying goodbye, even if most of her memories were bad ones, but most of her mind was concentrating on something else. Kakashi was wrong. The Konoha ninja wouldn't be able to track him down like Kakashi said they would. Because Daraku had a plan. He would watch; he would wait, until the right time arrived—regardless of how long it took, it didn't matter, he didn't care. But once that happened, Daraku would head back to find Kukyo and take revenge on her for what she'd done to him and his plans. He wouldn't let anyone find him in the meantime, because the revenge was what mattered most and so he'd hide from them all.

But what about her?

After all, he would still come back. Even if he waited ten years, he'd remember. What he'd been doing in the estate had been his life's work, and that was all he'd ever wanted. Now that Kukyo had ruined it, he wasn't going to give up until he'd either managed to complete it once more, or gotten his revenge. But considering the conditions for the experiments and a location to carry it out had been impossible to begin with, finding one for a second time was never going to happen—so Kukyo had to die. There would be a waiting period while he waited for things to die down, but once that had passed…she knew he would be looking for her and heading her way. How would she handle it? She didn't want anyone to get hurt in the meantime—not the likes of people in Konoha, and especially the likes of Kakashi.

Suddenly remembering that Kakashi was behind her, and knowing that he was waiting for her, she realised she couldn't stay here forever, and taking a deep breath to push away all her emotions, her deadpan expression stayed. Turning around, she nodded in his direction and stepped forward to stand beside him once more, her physical body a lot more calm than her tumultuous mind, but understanding she couldn't reveal a thing to him. It didn't exactly help when after a second, Kakashi said, as nonchalantly as anything,

"I guess we should head to Konoha then!"

That didn't particularly serve to calm Kukyo's thoughts—if anything, the swirling storm whirling inside her head only grew in intensity. It was something she'd been thinking about for days now, and still hadn't come to a conclusion this morning. Yet they were heading to the location in question, to speak to the person who would decide whether or not she would be allowed to stay in the village, and to see the whole place she'd been dreaming about for as long as she could remember! But she didn't know what to do—especially not now with what had happened this morning. Now she knew that Daraku was still alive; still free and had run off to some unknown location and would no doubt be keeping an eye on her and what she would be doing over how many days/months/years until he would finally return to attempt to kill her and whatever friends she had managed to make in that time.

It created a fear that built up in the pit of her stomach as they continued to walk; a fear so intense that she couldn't even show any of it on the outside. What was going to happen? Kukyo didn't know. But she had to think of something—and fast. Konoha was appearing on the horizon and she had to protect those she now cared about. All her life she had lived in the estate, knowing only those who worked there and her father. But now she knew Konoha; and more importantly—she knew Kakashi. If there was one thing she could do, and would do no matter what, it was protect him, regardless of what her father would attempt or wanted to do to her.

As the buildings of the village became clearer to Kukyo, she became more determined, and as she met Kakashi's gaze, she smirked back at him. She was uncertain, she'd admit it. She had no idea where Daraku was, and she understood that now he was watching her and waiting—though she didn't know how long it would be before he would turn up once again and try and kill her. There was the matter of the people she was around—would he try and hurt them; not to mention what did he classify as 'being close to someone'? That question was one Kukyo didn't like to think about. But she would do what she had to. It returned to her mind once again as she glanced to the side and looked at Kakashi, but she shook it off, focusing on her determination. It would be hard; but it wouldn't be the end. She hoped he would understand.

But she had to.


	16. Chapter 16

Kakashi pointed Konoha out ahead, trying not to show the excitement that was building on the inside of him externally. The mission he'd been ordered to go on had finally come to an end—though it hadn't gone exactly how he would have planned it—but there were still things that had gone better than expected. There were still things to look forward to. Kukyo was finally free of the estate she had been forced to live in with Daraku her entire life, and she could do what she liked. She could become a Konoha ninja and live in the village! She could become his teammate and the worry of having to leave her behind at the estate was no longer in his mind; it had dissipated entirely. She would have her own place in the village and he could see her whenever he liked. Even though they hadn't known each other that long, it felt so much longer than that. They had connected they moment they had met, and they had so much in common. The more time they spent together, the closer they got.

Having her in the village brought him nothing but happiness.

Though he knew he would have to explain everything to the Hokage; the mission report. That he hadn't actually killed Daraku; that he was still out there to be hunted down and defeated. The whole story of how Kakashi had met Kukyo to begin with and how she knew Daraku—what her life had been like with him and why she had decided to betray him. The fact that she had helped Kakashi with the mission and travelled back to Konoha with him—she was asking not only to live in the village but to work as a ninja there as well. There was a lot to explain, but Kakashi didn't care. The Hokage would understand, and he would accept Kukyo in much the same way he had done during the mission. He wasn't worried in the slightest—if anything, he was looking forward to getting her to the Hokage's building in order for her to be accepted into the village and for everything to finally be carried out.

But Kukyo wasn't quite in the same mind set. She admired the gates in awe as they passed through them, not noticing Kakashi smiling at her reaction as he led her further into the village. He pointed things out as they walked through; they weren't in any hurry, so he might as well go through a few things—though they could have a longer tour later. Kukyo was enamoured by it all, she had to admit. She had wanted to come here ever since she was little, and had dreamed of the things she had heard of in rumours and read about in books, but had never thought she would actually make it. But there was still a barrier that was stopping her from truly enjoying it as much as she really could. There were still the worries hovering in the back of her mind, knowing that the mission hadn't been truly completed, and even what Kakashi had said hadn't eased anything. Daraku was still out there—watching, waiting.

And as they turned the corner, the Hokage Monument came into view and Kakashi quickly began to talk about it, explaining the history and how it came about, along with the Hokage's that were on the Monument to begin with. But it only served to make Kukyo feel worse. There was a lot Kakashi didn't know, and by joining Konoha, that fact would only join onto the village as well. She felt bad for not telling them, but she couldn't. It would only make things worse. Hearing about the Hokage and all they had done for the village, however, didn't serve to make her feel any better about herself, and so she merely nodded along with his words and stared at the monument. Kakashi believed it, taking it to be so awed by what she saw that there was nothing to say, and smirking at the reaction he led her on.

There was just one place he wanted to take her before they went to the Hokage's building, and nodding in agreement, Kukyo simply followed along behind him, not really noticing where they were headed. Her thoughts were too tumultuous to look around her at the scenery to take in the surroundings, so it was only as Kakashi began to slow down that Kukyo looked up, and to start with she didn't know what to say. It was beautiful, yet at the same time…she could sense that feeling of melancholy; almost loneliness that pervaded this place. It was a feeling that Kakashi understood well. Walking forward, Kukyo noted all the names etched into the rock, and knew instantly it was the KIA stone for the village, and though they remained in silence to begin with, she eventually conjectured that he came here a lot. He shrugged, responding,

"It helps me think about the mistakes I've made."

But in return she could only whisper,

"I can understand that."

Glancing at each other she knew exactly what he came here to do, but knowing there was a place they had to be, Kakashi led her away and to the final destination: the Hokage's building. Her dread was growing, knowing what Kakashi wanted but understanding what she had to do, both sides of her tearing her apart. By the time they reached the building, however, and she had forced everything to calm. She had made her decision and she had to do it. There was no other choice. She might wish there was, but still…it was the way things were. And as she had already told herself, it wasn't the end. There would be more to things than this. So she walked through the building with a calm expression, no signs of anything on the outside or inside. She was ready. And that's the way it stayed as Kakashi took her into the Hokage's room and began to explain everything that had happened.

Several expressions moved across the Hokage's face as Kakashi told the mission report. Kukyo told her story when the Hokage asked for it, trying to keep her gaze up though finding it often drifted down as she continued. She'd spent so long in her life always being told to never meet anyone's gaze and just follow orders that it was strange to think it was alright to do it now. But when she finished, and after the Hokage contemplated it for a few moments, he eventually smiled and shook his head, looking at her with sympathy and kindness in her eyes—two things Kukyo still wasn't quite used to yet as he began softly,

"You've been through a lot, Kukyo. And from what I've heard it's been hard. But I'm not about to let knowing who your father is affect letting you join the village. You're free to live and work here right away."

"Actually—" She cut in abruptly, causing Kakashi to suddenly look round with a frown in confusion and surprise, before continuing softly, "I think I'm going to have to decline for the moment. I want to travel. All I've ever seen is life through my father's eyes. I want a new perspective. I want to discover myself."

"I can understand wanting that—everyone needs new experiences. But I hope to see you again, Kukyo."

Thanking him, she bowed and turned round to leave the room, glancing slightly at Kakashi and trying to convey her emotions in one look and not really succeeding, instead gesturing to the corridor so they could talk in private. Kakashi followed, not understanding anything of what was going on. He'd talked to Kukyo about it for days; said about taking her to Konoha right back when they were in the estate—and only _now_ she tells him she wants to travel? He couldn't deny it had hurt him; he had wanted her to live here and see her join the village. Over the period of the mission they had become so close in a way he hadn't become with anyone else in his life. To see her disappear just as instantly was painful in a way he didn't like to remember. In a way she didn't want to put him through, but knew it had to be.

She simply took him back to the KIA stone where she knew they would be alone and able to talk, though to begin with she wasn't sure what to say. Suddenly her feelings for him were rising inside her and she didn't know how to say goodbye, in much the same way Kakashi was feeling. He didn't know how to do this—he didn't _want_ to do this. But at the same time…

"Why didn't you tell me, Kukyo? I said I was going to take you back to Konoha and get you a house and a job not long after we began planning the mission together, and yet you never mentioned that you were going to head off on your own the entire time we were there!"

"I know, and I'm so sorry for that. I just…I didn't know how to say it. You'd done so much for me—you were risking so much for me to try and get me into Konoha, and yet I was just going to go off. Every time I tried it never came to anything. I'm sorry."

Kakashi sighed, glancing away, thinking over what she had said in the Hokage's room, and said softly,

"I understand what you said, I do. I know what you've been through—all that pain and hardship…I saw it more than anyone. But…I don't want you to go." Seeing the sadness on his face, for a moment she faltered, but forced herself to stay firm, only to narrow her eyes as Kakashi abruptly span round to face her, coming right up to her and taking her hands as he added,

"I'll come with you! We'll go together, Kukyo! You don't have to be alone!"

"No, Kakashi. Your place is here. You have work to do; people to protect. I'm not going to make you give it up for me. I'll be coming back, anyway. It won't be forever—I promise," she returned sweetly, every word slowly calming him down, stopping him from protesting as she lifted his hands away and stepped back from him.

But now she knew that this was it. There was no going back now, and as such she leant up and kissed his cheek gently, whispering,

"Goodbye, Kakashi. Thank you—for everything."

With that she turned and walked off, Kakashi unable to do anything but watch as she left, hoping she would fulfil those words—that she would come back. Kukyo, too, hoped the same thing as she headed for the gates, unsure how things would go from here but tried to remain positive. Kakashi meant so much to her, and the village had come to as well. But she didn't want them to find out and for things to change between them. She didn't want her friends to be injured or killed by her father. And she didn't want to lose the possibility of being able to live and work for Konoha because of everything that had ever happened in her life.

Would she ever break free of its hold?


End file.
